Questions posted on my Facebook Messenger by a Forum member who requested not to be identified (March 16, 2019):Good evening Sir Joe,
I have just random questions tonight:
1. How does "judgment" differ with "decision" as applied in legal documentation?
2. Should the word "your" in "your Honor" be capitalized as a way of addressing the court's Presiding Judge?
3. What is the difference of "awhile ago" and " a while ago"?
4. Why is the letter "t" enclosed by parenthesis in this quoted jurisprudence used in a court decision: "(t)he constitution mandates that the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven beyond reasonable doubt-the burden lies on the prosecution to overcome such presumption of innocence by presenting the quantum of evidence required." (People v. Cantalejo, 586 SCRA 777).
Thank you.
My reply to the unidentified inquiring Forum member:1. How does "judgment" differ with "decision" as applied in legal documentation?A "judgment" is usually just a formal expression of an opinion of anyone that may or may not carry the weight of authority, but a "decision" is a final conclusion arrived at usually by an individual who has power or authority, say a court judge or contest juror, to decide or render judgment based on the merits of facts or declarations formally presented by contending parties or participants.
2. Should the word "your" in "your Honor" be capitalized as a way of addressing the court's Presiding Judge? Yes. Since the word "your" is an intrinsic part of a formal appellation or manner of address, the first letter of that possessive adjective always needs to be capitalized in the same way as the first letter of the noun "honor":
"Your Honor."3. What is the difference of "awhile ago" and "a while ago"?There is no such phrase as "awhile ago," which is atrocious grammar that should be totally avoided in writing. The correct phrase is the three-word "a while ago," which of course means a few moments or a very short time before the present or the here and now. (By the way, "awhile" by its lonesome (without "ago") means "for a while," as in "She stayed
awhile this morning."
4. Why is the letter "t" enclosed by parenthesis in this quoted jurisprudence used in a court decision: "(t)he constitution mandates that the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven beyond reasonable doubt-the burden lies on the prosecution to overcome such presumption of innocence by presenting the quantum of evidence required." (People v. Cantalejo, 586 SCRA 777).Enclosing by parenthesis the first letter of the first word of a quoted jurisprudence used in a court decision, or any quoted written statement for that matter, signifies that the source of the statement being quoted actually begins with the first word of the quoted material, in this case "
The constitution mandates that the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proven beyond reasonable doubt-the burden lies..." The quoted material in such cases is preceded by a prefatory statement that's continued by the quoted material without any intervening words. This makes it necessary to use a lower-case letter--enclosed by parenthesis--to replace the capital letter of the first word of the quoted statement to denote seamless continuity with the words that precede it, at the same time gently alerting the reader that the "t" was actually the capital "T" in the source of the statement quoted.
I trust that the above explanations will help clarify rather than complexify things for you.
